Dr Landry Tsague Dongmo’s sterling role in the introduction and scaling up of innovative point-of-care technology for HIV diagnosis for children in 24 African countries has earned him this year’s coveted Jakes Gerwel Award in Public Health.
The accolade is awarded annually to an alum of the University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) School of Public Health (SOPH) who has, through their work, made an impact in public health through professional or academic leadership and innovation.
The award, made possible by the Mauerberger Foundation Fund, is made in honour of the visionary leadership that was displayed by Professor Jakes Gerwel, the renowned political activist who served as the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of UWC.
Dr Dongmo, a public health physician from Cameroon who graduated with his PhD from the SOPH in 2016, is a deserving winner. He serves as a UNICEF Senior Health Advisor to the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, with an impressive leadership and research track record of HIV/AIDS in West and Central Africa, specialising in maternal, newborn, and child health.
He was instrumental in co-creating the innovative U-test HIV prevention programme, combining digital technology, artificial intelligence, and bio-behavioural interventions for young people most at risk of HIV.
“He is most known as a passionate advocate for adopting more efficacious solutions to stop new paediatric infections in African children,” said Prof Brian van Wyk of the SOPH in his introduction.
During his keynote address, titled When Two Pandemics Collide, HIV and COVID-19 – A Reflection on the Future of Public Health in Africa, Dr Dongmo highlighted the importance of community health workers in the public sector.
“The COVID-19 pandemic, as we all know, brought forward the power of community health workers. They came in assuring a continuity of services at a community level,” he said.
In welcoming the audience, both in the room and online, Professor Uta Lehmann-Grube, Director of the SOPH, spoke about the school’s extensive network of more than 900 alumni in Africa.
She said they were making a remarkable impact on public health through professional or academic leadership and innovation in government, civil society or multilateral organisations.
Prof Lehmann said that every year, one of SOPH’s alumni makes an outstanding contribution and is honoured through the Jakes Gerwel Award.
UWC Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tyrone Pretorius, congratulated Dr Dongmo for the award and reminded the audience of Prof Gerwel’s role in establishing the SOPH.
“The School of Public Health is synonymous with Jakes Gerwel. When he had a programme or an initiative that he wanted to explore, he was very single-mindedly focused on that,” he said.
"While many were pressuring him to consider a medical school, he was firm in his opinion that tertiary and secondary care were skewed in favour of the more privileged, and believed that we needed a school that would promote primary healthcare in South Africa.”
